Fairfax resident Peter Kim has been sentenced to eight months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was also ordered to pay his share of the more than $700,000 lost by financial institutions because of his part in a $1.5 million mortgage-fraud scheme.
Authorities said he and others joined together to defraud financial institutions into making fraudulent mortgage loans. The players included a mortgage broker, an unqualified straw buyer, an executive from a title company and several intermediaries who prepared and approved fraudulent loan documents.
According to a May 17 federal indictment, six co-conspirators “prepared and submitted false, fraudulent and misleading mortgage-loan applications for an unqualified buyer who would not have otherwise been approved for the loan. The fraudulent applications contained false information regarding the applicant’s employment, income, assets, immigration status and intent to live in the property as a primary residence.”
Court documents revealed that, “One month after conspirators fraudulently obtained $1.2 million in mortgage loan proceeds, they applied for and fraudulently received a $350,000 home equity loan, the proceeds of which were distributed among some of the conspirators.”
The indictment stated that those involved in the scheme “created fake documents to corroborate false information contained in fraudulent loan applications—including a fake lease, fabricated bank statement and a bogus W-2. One conspirator also falsely verified another conspirator’s employment in order to qualify for the loan.”
The mortgage-fraud scheme involved a home in Gainesville, and in May in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Kim, 39, Fairfax’s Erin Cullen, 32, and three other conspirators pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Kim returned for sentencing Sept. 7 and, at that time, U.S. District Court Judge Anthony J. Trenga sentenced him to eight months incarceration followed by three years supervised release. Kim must also pay his portion of the $700,536 restitution owed the victims. Cullen is slated for sentencing this Friday, Sept. 21.